Orthodontic appliance.



E. H. ANGLE.

ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19. 1914.

Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

EDWARD H. ANGLE, OF NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT.

ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE.

Application filed May 19, 1914. Serial No. 839,541.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD H. ANGLE, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of New London, inthe countyofNew London, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Orthodontic Appliances, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to the art of regulation of the teeth, and isdirected particularly to that class of devices in which an arch-bar isadjustably supported at itsrespectively opposite ends, and detachablyconnected intermediate of its ends with selected teeth of the dentalarch.

The principal objects of my' invention are, to provide simple, efficientand highly effective means for detachably engaging the arch-bar withselected teeth of the dental arch, without disturbing the adjustment ofthe ends of said arch-bar with respect to its supporting anchorages; andto provlde means for rigidly securing said arch-bar with thetooth-engaging means in such manner that the tooth thus engaged may becontemporaneously rotated by said arch-bar upon any selected axis, andbodlly shlfted in any desired direction.

Other objects of my invention are, to provide the arch-bar withabutments to prevent its longitudinal movement with respect to thetooth-engaging means, and to so form said abutments that they may bereadil se-. orm

cured on the arch-bar in absolutely uni spaced relation.

My invention comprehends a tooth-band having a slotted projectionprovided with a groove in the, walls of the slot to form a hook, and aflexible arch-bar of such'crosssection as may be snugly fitted withinthe slotin said projection by a lateral movement thereof, and havinga'g'roove so disposed as to register with the groove in the projection,and complementary therewith to provide a keyway for the reception of asuitable key i or spline. Y

My invention further includes all of the various novel features ofconstruction-and arrangement hereinafter more definitely specified.

is an inverted plan view of the upper human dental arch, showing aconvenient embodi- Specification of Letters Patent.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 Patented Nov. '7, 119116.

spective view of a tooth-attaching band operatively engaged with thearch-bar; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of said toothband, inverted, thearch-bar being removed for convenience of illustration; Fig. 4 is atransverse vertical'sectional view taken on the line 44: in Fig. 2; Fig.5 is a fragmentary plan view showing the abutments on the arch-bar forpreventing its longitudinal movement with respect to the toothband; Fig.6 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the arch-bar, showing aconvenient method of applying the abutments thereto; Fig. 7 is afragmentary front elevational view of the arch-bar, showing theabutments thus attached; and Fig. 8 is a erspective view of a convenientform of ey.

The tooth-regulating appliance towhich this invention is especiallyapplicable is indicated in a general way in Fig. 1, and includes anarch-bar consisting of a resilient middle section 10 ,fitted'in suitablesockets 11 and 12 in the externally threaded end sections 18 and 14,which respectively pass through'nuts 15 and 16 loosely carried bytheanchor tubes 17 and 18 of the respective anchor bands 19 and 20, asshown in detail in a prior Patent, No. 1,014,030, granted to me January9, 1912. j

As shown in Fig. 1, the anchor bands 19 and 20 are respectively securedto the first molars 21 and 22 upon opposite sides of the dental arch bythe adjusting nuts 23 and 24: rotatably mounted on the threaded stems.25 and 26 respectively projecting from one of the dental arch to thearch-bar, and may be best formed of a strip of sheet material,preferably of non-corrosive metal, which may be bent to form a band 30toembraoe selected teeth of the dental arch, as shown in Fig. 1. a

. The tootheband30, as best shown in Figs. 2 3 and 4, may be providedwith an external projection31 having an open Sided slot 32,

such as maybe formedby a saw-cut of suitable width extending inwardlyfrom one wall thereof, preferably in'the wall toward .the incisive edgeof the teeth to form a hook for the reception of the middle arch sectionof the arch-bar, which is preferably of rectangular cross-section and ofa breadth greater than its thickness, as best shown in Fig. 4.

- are provided with desired form, pre erably semi-cylindrical,

v The opposedwalls 33 and 34 of the slot 32 extend substantially in alane .with that portion of the tooth-band from which the projection orhook protrudes, and said walls ooves 35 and 36 ofany and extendlongitudinally with the general direction of the slot 32.

The arch-bar 10 is provided in one or both of itsrbroader sides with thegroove 41 extending longitudinally thereof, and complementary to thegroove 35 or 36 to form a keyway, into which a wire 43, such as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, on a' key 45, such .as shown in Fig. 8, may be insertedto detachably secure said arch-bar 10 in the slot in the projection 31,in such rigid relation that when twisted or otherwise forced in anydirection, the tooth-band and the tooth to which it may be attached willrespond correspondingly.

Although the arch-bar 10 is shownas be ing rectangular incross-section,and fitt'ed in a slot of similar contour to prevent its rotation in saidslot, it is to be understood may be provided, as best shown in Figs. 5;

and 7, with abutments 46 and 47, secured thereto and arranged to engagethe opposite sides of the hook-or projection 31,

The abutments 46 and47 may-be best secured to the'arch-bar by soldering,and as such a soldering operationis extremely difficult, in view of theminutenes's of the necessary to withdraw the key keyway to so releasethe arch-bar 10 that it structure, I have found it best to provide saidabutments initially in the form of an elongated 'link 50, as showninFig. 6, which may be conveniently held in place during the solderingoperation, andwhen securely thus leaving the parallelabutments 46 31 47properly spaced apart, as shown in i Fig. 7. Y

My invention is particularly advanta 6 .geous in that the arch-bar maybe attached to and removed from the malposed teeth of the dental archwithout removingor even disturbing theadjusted relation between thearch-bar and-its anchorages, it being only from the tooth-engaging meanshaving a slot promay be removed from the slot by a slight lateralmovement and similarly replaced; furthermore, by the employment of atoothband having such an attachment, the archbar may have its endsthreaded and directly '70 attached to the anchorages without theinterposition of the separate parts embodied in what is commonly knownas the sectional arch.

I do not desire to limit my invention to the precise detailsof'const'ructien and arrangement as herein set forth, as variousmodifications may be made therein without departing from the essentialfeatures-of my invention as defined in the appended claims. Having thusdescribed my invention, I claim: N

1. An orthodontic appliance, comprisingv vided with a grooved wall, anarch-bar arranged to' be' snugly fitted in said slot and having a grooveextending longitudinally thereofand in registry with the groove in thewall of said slot, and complementary therewith to form a keyway, andmeans extended throughsaid keyway for rigidly connecting said arch-barwith said tooth-engaging means in detachable relation.

2. An orthodontic appliance, comprising tooth-engaging means providedwith a pro jection having a grooved free member extending toward oneedge thereof, between which and said tooth-engaging means is a recess inwhich an arch-bar may be retained.

- 3. .An orthodontic appliance, comprising tooth-engaging means providedwith a projection having a grooved free member extending toward oneedgethereof and form; ing a recess, and an arch-bar detachably fitted insaid recess and having a groove arranged to register with the groove insaid free member.

4. An orthodontic appliance, comprising an arch forming bar arranged tobe enga ed with a tooth en aging member, and havm a groove exten 'ngsubstantiallyfrom on to end in the side thereof, arranged to registerwith a groovein said member and adapted to receive a securing device.

' 5. An orthodontic appliance, comprising tooth-engaging means having aslot provided attached may have its semi-cincular ends 51. and 52removed in any able manne ,1

. 6'. An orthodontic appliance, comprising 1 tooth-engaging means havinggrooved walls,

an arch-bar arranged to be snugly fitted between said walls, and havinga groove extending longitudinally thereof and complementary with thegrooves in said walls to form a keyway, and having means arranged toprevent its longitudinal movement with respect thereto, and meansextended through said keyway for rigidly connecting said arch-bar, indetachable relation with said tooth-engaging means. a

7. An orthodontic appliance, comprising tooth-engaging means providedwith a hook having buccally and lingually disposed grooved surfacesforming abutments, an arch-bar arranged to .be snugly fitted bea tweensaid surfaces and having a groove extending longitudinally thereof andin registry with one of the grooves in said hookand complementarytherewith to form a keyway, spaced abutments on said arch-bar forengaging said hook, and means extending through said keyway for rigidlyconnecting said arch-bar with said hook in detachable relation. 8. Anorthodontic appliance, comprising tooth-engaging means having a hookproviding lingual and buccal abutment surfaces provided with grooves, anarch-bar arranged to be snugly fitted in said hook between said surfacesand having a groove extending longitudinally thereof and complementarywith one of the grooves in said hook to form a keyway, abutments on saidarch-bar extend- 9. An orthodontic appliance, comprising tooth-engagingmeans having a hook provided with lingual and buccal abutment surfaceshaving grooves, an arch-bar arranged to be snugly fitted in said hookbetween said surfaces and having a groove extending longitudinallythereof and complementary with one of the grooves in said hook to form akeyway, abutments on said arch-bar formed in the shape of an enlongatedlink having parallel side bars whose ends may be subsequently removed toprovide separate spaced abutments, and a key extended through saidkeyway for preventing the accidental lateral displacement of saidarch-bar from said hook.

10. An orthodontic appliance, comprising an arch-bar having spacedabutments secured thereto in the form of a link whose connecting endsmay be subsequently severed.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of May, A.D., 1914. EDWARD H. ANGLE.

Witnesses:

JAMES A. DAVIS, WILLIAM BnLcHnR.

